Legal advice sought in gun lawsuit

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Attorneys for the state and for several corporations filed legal motions Tuesday seeking an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling on a new law.<br/><br/>Paperwork filed in US District

Tuesday, December 14th 2004, 9:29 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Attorneys for the state and for several corporations filed legal motions Tuesday seeking an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling on a new law.

Paperwork filed in US District Court in Tulsa asked the appeals court to determine whether a law that prevents companies from banning guns in their parking lots is criminal or civil.

Federal Judge Sven Erik Holmes ordered the request last month after deciding that the answer would determine how he rules in the case brought by Williams Companies, Conoco-Phillips and other corporations.

The state has argued that the law passed during the legislative session is civil and a lawsuit challenging it should be dismissed.

The companies say it's criminal.

The law stems from the 2002 firings of 12 workers at a Weyerhaeuser Company paper mill in southeast Oklahoma who had firearms in their vehicles.